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A trainee who was 'iinexperienced with dealing with a scenario of this kind' nearly caused a 'high risk collision', the report ruled.

The first landing had to be abandoned because of “conflicting unknown traffic”.

At this point the civil flight from Dunkeswell, bound for the Channel Islands, appeared on radar with no information on how high it was.

That’s when the Flybe plane was told to “go around”, climb 3,000 feet and turn right. But it soon became clear that the civil aircraft was just 300 feet below, with a distance of one and quarter miles between them.

The civil aircraft had not communicated with Exeter Airport as the pilot had been told to contact London to activate his flight plan, however they were 'busy' and 'it took longer than anticipated to speak with them.'

The trainee was quickly relieved by an On the Job Training Instructor (OJTI) with years of experience as both a controller and an OJTI at Exeter Airport.

The report states: "The controller acknowledged this and said something like "I'm not sure what heading to turn you onto."

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The air traffic controller was inexperienced

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"Another voice, presumably the supervisor, said "turn left to 180.”

The report went on: "They turned, continued the climb, and the transition altitude cleared.

"It was quickly agreed that the incident occurred because the Exeter controller, who was providing a deconfliction service and could see the M20 on his radar display, had nonetheless continued to vector the [Flybe flight] into conflict with it."

Although safety had been put at risk, the action taken by the OJTI removed the possibility of a collision - and so the incident was ultimately assessed as category C.

A spokesperson for Exeter Airport said they were unable to comment on behalf of the strict CAA training regime undertaken by their trainees.

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Exeter airport said they would not comment on the trainee's activities

Commenting on the report itself, they added: "As outlined in the report, the aircraft were well separated and the action taken removed the possibility of a collision.

"This report offers valuable feedback which will be used to further enhance our safety culture."

Flybe say they welcome the findings contained in the Airprox report. Luke Farajallah, Chief Operations Officer added: "The airline industry operates under the strictest of regulatory regimes, which is why aviation remains the safest of all forms of public transport."